


On the Shores of the Aegean Sea

by allcreations



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: M/M, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23187052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allcreations/pseuds/allcreations
Summary: Galo and Lio walk into a world where everything went wrong, and gets a tour on it.Also, Omega Centauri's Lio Fotia has absolutely terrible taste in men(to the eternal shame of Earth's Lio Fotia).(Tags might be added as the fic goes on)
Relationships: Kray Foresight/Lio Fotia, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	1. THE TOUR GUIDE AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I would like to warn you that this fic is a very self indulgent piece!  
> I have decided to write so-called Isekai, and because it's very much for my own enjoyment I am afraid that my grasp on English is slipping more than usual. I will probably have come back to tighten lots of sentences and word choices later once I get all of the story out. Also, I still find tags on AO3 difficult when they aren't something very obvious, because there are so many of them and I'm not sure about appropriate application sometimes, so more tags might be added as I go on.
> 
> Please be warned for following:  
> -Original characters keep on appearing, although only one has important role  
> -Additional tags might be added as chapters are added  
> -There might be more or less chapters than four

Lio awakes with pain exploding through every part of his body.

Agony seems to rise from his very bones and organs. He would collapse and curl up into a ball if it weren't for the chain of thorns still binding him to place. He tries to move and free himself, but regrets it as he is swiftly answered with white-hot flashes that make him cry out. Instead of punishing himself further, he decides to look around and assess his situation. He can start moving when his condition gets better. If it gets better at all.

He finds himself still in the pod of the Prometech engine. His heart drops at the discovery. Kray's plan to move out of Earth must have worked. The realization is grim, but he steadies his resolve to escape soon and free the rest of Burnish who must still be trapped in the engine. 

Speaking of the Burnish, though. He squints the best he can to look at the walls that held his people, but the debris around the pod is constructing much of his view. It does not help that the engine room is now very dark without the flare of Burnish power, and his eyes watery from a thundering headache that refuses to go away. He is no longer sure if he is crying due to pain or at the understanding that there would be inevitably those who did not survive the warp. He tries to stay strong, thinking of plans that would come after he frees himself from the pod, but the tears start rolling down and he is helpless to even wipe them from his face.

Unfortunately enough, the fates decide to send to him the last person he wants to see in his current state. There is a sound of the door opening far away and the steady footsteps that come closer and closer until it stops right in front of him. Lio keeps his head down, unwilling to show his tears in front of his enemy, but a large hand grabs his chin and force his head upwards. 

"Lio Fotia," Kray murmurs with unveiled disbelief. "How did you...the engine's status was being monitored. Your body was going through disintegration."

At that, Lio's brain, cloudy from pain, suddenly remembers. He remembers the vivid sensation of his fingertips turning to ash as his fire was being drained, his human flesh overloaded with so much power at once and drained of it so quickly that it could not bear the brunt anymore. He had felt his organs lose their function as they turned to dust. 

Why had he survived, then? How did he manage to regenerate himself after so much damage? Lio doesn't know, but he wants to believe that it's a miracle granted by the Promare. He's not sure how yet, but as long as he's alive, and the other Burnish are alive, then they would still have a chance, they could still fight and-

But then Kray Foresight suddenly gives a loud, booming laugh.

"I see, I see now! I was surprised for a minute, but I see what happened now."

Lio looks at him, confused and weak but still defiant. Kray looks back with cruel satisfaction that he does not bother to hide, and to Lio's further confusion, what reads like a slip of pity. 

"Do you not get it yet? Lio Fotia, the leader of the Mad Burnish, you survived this warp, because-----"

* * *

Galo's trip to another world did not happen in any dramatic way.

There were no wormholes, no car accidents, no freak lightning, no magical entities. It was as simple as exiting your house with your boyfriend after a really good breakfast, before which there was a really good sleep together in the shared bed, and even before that, there was extremely good sex. He definitely did not expect to walk out of his home and walk straight into an alien waiting room. By the time he and his companion noticed the strange surroundings, however, the door behind them was long gone, conveniently stranding them. 

The room itself was not much larger than his bedroom. The walls were all grey plates of metal, giving a very futuristic feel, and when they put their hands to it they could feel a faint hum of some machinery running behind it. There were also two worn benches that were not too comfortable to sit in. There was a shutter on one of the walls, presumably leading outside, although it would not budge no matter how much Galo poked at a mysterious keypad located next to it. 

Galo and Lio spent good five minutes pinching each other's cheeks(it hurt), then nearly twenty minutes trying to find the door that they came from and attempting to make a new exit. Attempts to use a bench as a battering ram were made. They then spent fifteen minutes trying to calm each other down and talking about possible reasons for the occurrence. It was mostly because they could no longer avoid the very obvious elephant in the room and finally had to talk about the giant monitor on the wall. 

The monitor in question was very large, nearly taking up one-third of one wall, with electronic letters that flashed with orange and yellow colors. 

The single message flashing on it was simple: **Welcome to Omega Centauri!**

* * *

Their rescue came in an unexpected form after much bickering, more attempts at destroying walls, and Lio's failure to find the right pattern of numbers for the keypad(Galo suggested trying all the number combinations possible, to which Lio sighed). Tired and fruitless, they had taken up one entire bench each to lie down. Galo was still talking about his unextinguished burning soul when they heard loud beeping noises from somewhere outside.

The shutters opened slowly, revealing a bright blue sky and a desert that spread as far as the eye could see. A young woman with long brown hair, looking to be in her early to mid-twenties, stood facing them. Next to her was what seemed like a silver scooter, except it had no wheels and was floating a few inches off the ground. There was a small vehicle that looked like an open carriage behind the scooter, with a pair of seats inside, also floating and wheel-less. The metallic shell had been printed with bright blue block letters that said: Phaeci Tours. 

"Hey," she said, moving her orange-tinted goggles up and squinting at them with now bare eyes. "You the guys who made the reservation?"

"Wha?" Galo asked, unable to form a complete sentence at the sudden turn of events and appearance of cool vehicles. The girl narrowed her eyes as she studied them carefully. She tapped the floor with her foot impatiently, arms crossed. 

"Look, it says here that I have a reservation for two people coming in from the other colony. Are you the ones who signed up for the tour or not? If you aren't, you better not ask me for a ride to the city. I don't like leaving people in the middle of god-fucking nowhere but it's against the company policy and they deduct it from my salary."

"Yeah, actually, we're the ones who made the reservation," Lio answered quickly, skillfully stepping on Galo's foot(Galo looked positively wounded) before he could say anything. "Sorry, my...friend took a short nap and forgot why he was here for a second." 

The girl nodded in understanding. "Took a long way around, huh? Gotta say, those shuttles are cheap but the way they mess with your internal biorhythm is cra-zy. I still think that rumor about the drivers slipping some sleep gas through the air filters to keep the passengers quiet has some truth to it." 

She motioned at them to come closer, then jumped onto the seat of her futuristic scooter equivalent. Galo gingerly entered the tiny metal carriage as the seats worryingly wobbled under his weight. Lio barely squeezed into the remaining space, their legs crammed together uncomfortably.

"Well, now that you are seated," she began, but then seemed to realize something and fished out a small contraption from her vest pocket. She attached it near the handle of her scooter, and her voice began to sound from a speaker at the floor of the carriage. It was ringing and tinny. "I'm Shikaa, your guide for today. Today you learn everything about the history of Epimepolis."

Galo could see Lio snorting at the name, although he was not sure why. He made a mental note to ask later.

"Few rules to get out of the way first. One! Please do not get out of your seats unless I give you permission. We will make a stop at the museum and photo spots so you don't have to be so eager to get out. Two! Please don't put your head or any limbs outside while we are moving. We always get a few...unfortunate accidents each year. Three! With my helmet and earpiece on, I can't hear what you guys are saying unless you yell really loudly. If you need to tell me something, press the call button to the right side of your seat to get a connection. Are we all clear?"

Galo and Lio nodded in unison, as earnestly as possible. Shikaa put on her helmet, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Also, the two bottles in the drink holder are free, but we charge you for anything inside the icebox to the side. Okay?" 

Galo removed a bottle from the holder in question. It was disappointingly mundane for an object from a different planet, shaped almost the same as the bottles that he was used to except for the cap part looking like it was supposed to somehow fold into the bottle. The label showed the name 'Kay-ron Bubble Tea'.

* * *

The actual ride through the desert on an alien planet was smoother then Galo expected, with the carriage only gently rocking as the scooter in front of them drove at a fast but steady speed. The sun was hot but not unbearable, and the winds were just cool enough to keep the experience comfortable. Some sands did blow into the seats when the wind hit them the wrong way, but not enough that it would be annoying. 

All in all, Galo was actually beginning to enjoying the ride, although Shikaa's initial introduction of Epimepolis was spoken in a droll, monotonous tone that implied that she had gone through it thousands of times and probably could recite it from memory.

He was completely lost by the time she was talking about crop growth of all things, but he did get the gist of it. This really was Omega Centauri, somehow, and Epimepolis was a colony city on the planet founded by Kray Foresight. People were actually living there. They were farming, building, thriving. Weird. Galo had to blink a couple of times to make sure that he was not dreaming. 

While Galo was gradually starting to relax, though, Lio still looked concerned and thoughtful.

"Hey, babe, you all right?" Galo whispered, wrapping an arm around Lio's shoulder. Lio bit his lip. "No. I don't-this doesn't make sense. We stopped Kray, this shouldn't have happened. Why are we here? How are you so calm anyway? I feel like jumping out of here at any moment."

"No, you are the calm one. You lied through your teeth about making that reservation or whatever." 

"Survival instinct," Lio replied immediately. "From what she said, I wasn't sure if we could get out if we didn't take the ride."

"And you were right," Galo said, pulling Lio closer to him in an already tiny space. Lio frowned but leaned into him anyway. "Look, Lio, it's desert all around here. We would never have made it on foot. And god knows how long it would've taken for another ride to show up." 

"Galo..I don't get this at all. What if Kray's there? It's making me uneasy."

"I don't get any of this either. But we went through crazy shit before, right? We went through it together. It doesn't matter if we are out in space, or if we have to beat Kray one more time. We can probably do it again, you and me. Lio de Galon, remember?"

Lio gave a faint smile at that, probably with the words _I love you so much, you idiot_ , at the tip of his tongue. Instead, he said, "It's Galo de Lion." 

* * *

Shikaa's basic introduction had ended by the time they made a little fist bump. Galo could see an outline of a great fortress that lay in front of them, presumably the city of Epimepolis, looking like every sci-fi city that Galo had ever seen in films. As they approached the shadow, Shikaa began to direct them to structures in the desert that they were starting to pass.

"All right. Everyone, please look to your left," she said, with little more vigor in her voice this time. A great domed structure stood out in the vast desert, with tall metal towers jutting around it. "Those are the generators that power the entirety of Epimepolis! Our founder, Kray Foresight, had a personal hand in designing the system as a scientist. They mostly run on light and wind so it even cuts back on pollution. Those are sturdy, too, even with constant threats of sandstorms. Almost was destroyed during the rampage of Storm Ze'ph, but Foresight and his Alpha team managed to fix it in just a month. Considering the resources that were available then, it was a complete miracle. Humanity's triumph."

Galo, seeing Lio bristle at every mention of Kray's name, had to keep his boyfriend locked in a tight embrace in fear that he would indeed make good on his words from earlier and jump out of the seat to disappear into the desert. Blissfully unaware of the identity and state of her passengers, Shikaa continued her talk as they grew closer and closer to the city's grey walls. 

"Did any of you catch that little black house all alone in the desert? Don't worry if you just saw it now, lots of people tend to not notice because it's so far away. What is it, you ask? Well, it's a secret for now. When I tell you you'll really be surprised! If you guess correctly it'll be really shocking, all the time I've run this course I've never had one person who got it right the first time."

"Little bit away you can see the botanical lab--it's the white blocky building. It was vital in the early stages of terraforming, as the researchers searched for ways to grow plant and seed samples they brought in the unfamiliar soil. Some of the building was actually used as a greenhouse as they experimentally farmed food crops inside. Nowadays it's mostly a storage center for samples, in case of a crisis, and the former greenhouse has been turned into a botanical garden. Phaeci Tours also offers a daily tour course in the gardens, so if you are interested, please tell me by the end of the tour to make a reservation."

"Now that we are pretty close to the city, you can see that big white tower sticking out behind the wall! The one with large windows! That's the Foresight Foundation building! You might've seen it before somewhere. Iconic design, don't you think? There were arguments over its placing at first, because it was so close to the outer wall of the colony, and it's still unclear as to why they chose that particular location instead of having it in the inner parts of the city. There are rumors, though."

Galo actually found some of the explanations interesting; perhaps it was because their tour guide seemed like a nice person, or perhaps because the entire experience was far too surreal. It also helped that Shikaa's crash course on Epimepolis did not include anything about where the colony's people came from. There were mentions of Kray and long sections dedicated to the early stages of terraforming, but the Earth and the circumstances that must have led to its destruction were curiously absent. 

The sense of it not being _real_ kept his thoughts from diving too much into what must have happened for Kray's plan to have succeeded. There was a possibility that those thoughts would catch up later, especially if they later had to face Kray one more time. But for now, the brain had too much to process within too short of time and wanted to distract itself by knowing what kind of 'rumors' were going on in the city of Epimepolis.

"Now don't go around saying that it's the god's truth to your folks back home, but some people say that Kray Foresight had more personal reasons for deciding the tower's location. They say that if you go to the very top floor of the Foresight tower, place only reserved for the governor, then you can see the little black house from the earlier. That's right, in fact, it is probably the only place from Epimepolis in which you can see that tiny house since it's so far out in the desert! And that house, of course...belongs to his rumored secret lover, Lio Fotia."

Lio, caught off guard, spat out his Kay-ron Bubble Tea and began to cough loudly. It was rather unfortunate as he had just begun to drink from the bottle after eyeing it with suspicion for ten minutes. 

"Hey!" the speaker suddenly rang with urgency. "Is your friend sick? Do I have to make a stop? Don't let him throw up on the carpet!"

Galo had to assure the guide that yes, everything was all right, he did have training for medical emergencies, and they would definitely pay for cleaning if anyone threw up. All the while rubbing Lio's back to calm him down and making sure that he was not choking. 

Although he was not throwing up, Lio did look sick. "I hate this world."

"Look, Lio, I know it's a lot to take in-"

"Kray Foresight succeeded. The Earth is gone. I'm alive and also Kray Foresight's secret lover."

"I mean, she said it was a rumor-"

"I'm going to burn this place down to the ground."

"Don't be so dramatic! If you set fire to anything I'm going to have to put it out, okay?"

The rest of the ride to the gates of Epimepolis went rather gloomily, with Lio silently slurping his remaining bubble tea and Galo trying to remove anything that looked remotely flammable from his boyfriend's line of sight.

* * *

Even as he was excited about entering the great science fiction city, Galo was worried about whether they would run an ID check and finally figure out that the tourists were in fact displaced travelers from another world. Lio was cooking up a story for this one even as the great outer walls filled their vision, he could tell, but thankfully there were only machines that scanned Shikaa's face and scooter at the tiny gate for tourists that they entered through.

Some part of Galo's mind(the one that didn't speak out because it was afraid of Lio saying "Do you think this is a school trip?") was still somewhat disappointed that the section of the city that they ended up in had small, ordinary, looking buildings and very few people. But Shikaa had assured them that the lackluster view was because they were in the tiny section of the city owned by her tourism agency. She just needed to get some fuel for her machine, and then they could set out again through the shinier, more glorious parts of Epimepolis with killer skylines, along with that museum she was talking about. 

Shikaa skillfully drove between other floating tour vehicles setting out with respective guides as she explained this, before neatly settling into a desolate parking space behind a building. It impressed Galo a lot. 

The sight of other flying cars and bikes in motion was pretty cool, despite Galo being used to being shot out to dizzying heights for Burning Rescue missions. There were so many of them passing by in flashes of color, but they also seemed to operate tightly under some traffic rule that Galo was not aware of. Even as they flew quickly in all directions, none of the flying vehicles collided or even scratched each other, as if they had practiced in synchronized motion for a long time.

There were no other people in the open parking space that Shikaa chose, despite the traffic that they had seen moments earlier. It was a square slab of grey cement with yellow lights on the ground that marked out space for people to park their vehicles. There was a small, glowing blue block at one end of each designated space, and when Shikaa parked her scooter it turned white and gave a satisfied bleep. Galo was glad for a break after being in a cramped space for so long and jumped out of his seat the moment they parked to begin stretching. Lio, still looking pretty miserable, followed suit.

"Oh yeah, before I go get this thing filled up, I need to ask you something." Shikaa sounded different now without the speaker amplifying her voice. She had removed her helmet and earpiece to hang them by their straps on the handle, also taking out a small spray from her pocket to spray sections of the scooter that was especially covered in desert dust.

"What is it?" Galo asked back, stretching out his arms in front of him and giving a big yawn. 

"Who are you guys?"

Lio stepped in before Galo could cause any damage; Galo was always thankful for Lio's quick thinking on his feet, whether it was for calculating the most efficient way to use their pizza coupons or for talking his way out of a spot in an unknown world.

"Just tourists. We decided we needed a little time away from the job and-"

"No, who are you really? I peeked at the customer list for today, and you certainly aren't the Bellaflows, the two old ladies who are on their retirement trip."

Galo could not help but butt in at that. "You took us despite knowing that we weren't the right people?"

"Well," Shikaa went on thoughtfully. "I'm not actually supposed to look at the customer list. I only get the time and the number of people from the front desk, after couple of losers decided to drop their customers solely judging by the profile. It's not my fault if I accidentally end up giving a tour to two lying liars because they totally claimed that they were the right people. Look, I only got you here because I figured that there was a good story here. The old ladies have their communications, can probably ride a taxi out of there or something, send us a complaint later, I don't care. Tell me what's up and why your friend looks like a carbon copy of Lio fucking Fotia, or I call the security forces." 

She drummed her finger threateningly against the small round machine on her belt as she spoke, which was probably some kind of a communication device. Galo's brain whirled. Could they make it if they ran? They would be at a disadvantage in an unfamiliar city. Did she have any weapons on hand? How quick would this security be to arrive on the scene once they were called? He glanced at Lio, hoping that they could have a telepathic moment.

Lio, obviously, did not catch Galo's attempt at being on the same brain wavelength. He simply stared at the tour guide, and said: "That is because I _am_ Lio Fotia."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I love all these Bad End AUs! I will ride this big wave and write all the very sexy noncon erotic fantasy sex things.
> 
> Me two hours later: For some reason, I have completely failed myself.


	2. HOW STARS ARE MADE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio learns that people love him, for all the wrong reasons.
> 
> Omega Centauri's Lio Fotia has a lot to answer for.

"So you are actually Lio Fotia, and he's what's his name, and you guys are from some kind of parallel universe where you got into a giant robot, punched Kray, and then saved the Earth. Interesting."

"It's not what's his name!" Galo argued. "It's Galo Thymos. Can't you memorize it the first time around?"

They were sitting on the floor of Shikaa's company-provided apartment, which was small and worn but still pretty comfortable. The apartment was comprised of a bedroom, a kitchen that also served as a dining room, and a bathroom. She had no sofa and not enough chairs for three people, so when she brought cup noodles warm from boiling, they had decided to eat on the floor of the kitchen.

"What I'm surprised about is how you told us that it has been two hundred years since all of it happened here. I know that you mentioned it during that tour course here, but I thought I misheard." Lio, as usual, was the one who was important observations. Galo was very proud of him, and also always found his analyzing expression sexy. "I assumed that a civilization two hundred years into the future would be a lot more...advanced."

"Yeah!" agreed Galo. "I mean, I think your flying bike is cool, no offense. But we are still eating cup noodles. It's not very different from what I ate back home."

"See, it's all matter of population. Even if you brought ten thousand people who were all experts in the same single field and gave them a database that had everything about the subject it would take time to just recreate all the existing technology and actual physical stuff to the level it was on Earth, much less improve on it. But we weren't even talking about one area, because human civilization is made up of all sorts of stuff. Mathematics. Music. Cooking. Medicine. Biology. Farming. Journalism. Law. You can't do all that with just ten thousand people."

"Especially when the efforts early on were put to making this place livable, right?" Lio asked, nodding in understanding. 

Shikaa grinned. "Right! I'm starting to like you, Guy Claiming To Be Lio Fotia. Bit more and I think I might actually believe that you are him. And Kray was a pragmatic man with his terraforming robot and everything, which means that our culture and entertainment especially went straight to shit. Guess how many comedians were aboard Parnassus? I'll just answer right now: Zero."

Galo had missed half of the conversation by that point, his brain instead choosing to focus on how elegant Lio could look while eating cup noodles of all things, and with extremely terrible chopstick skills at that. Galo had tried multiple times to teach him the right way to hold the utensils but later had to admit that there was something cute about how his boyfriend could be so good at some things(like figuring out the history of a space colony) while having absolutely no talent at others.

The conversation about Epimepolis's culture seemed to have progressed while Galo was preoccupied, and Shikaa was soon balancing a small monitor on a chair's seat to place it on an eye level. 

"I would like to show you a shining beacon of our shithole movie industry, a truly remarkable classic. I think it'll explain how things are around here a lot better than me talking for hours." 

She explained that it was a 'historical' movie. 

Galo, enraptured, watched as his on-screen self, looking and sounding nothing like him, was tragically killed off with thirty seconds of dialogue after the opening credits.

* * *

And this is how the 'historical' film, _The Last Hope_ goes:

The film's Kray, an actor with an uncanny resemblance to Kray (although not quite matching the physique), is devastated by the death of the young aspiring firefighter and spends maybe good five minutes pacing in his room having introspective narration about innocence, moral dilemmas, and futility of violence, which all encourage him to become an even greater leader than he already is.

The actor playing Heris has triple-dyed hair and piercings in her eyebrows because the director has decided that the movie needed someone cool to make wisecracks. She spends the film mostly explaining scientific terms sarcastically, or randomly typing away with a pizza in her mouth. 

They have a great guy in Lio's role, with rebellious eyes and an awesome leather jacket, although he's almost two heads taller than actual Lio and apparently dumped the historically accurate number of belts(seventeen in total) in favor of looking vaguely bondage-y. Lio Fotia in the film is a young man led astray, who has good intentions but manifests them in violent ways. Other Burnish are mostly glossed over. Their numbers are small, their powers are weak, and their complaints are mostly negligible; Lio is too preoccupied with these problems to see Kray's greater vision. 

Kray's frustration grows as the doomsday approaches. Not only is he the only one suffering from the moral dilemma he faces from having to choose designated survivors, but Parnassus's engine is also unreliable even when running on the strongest generators. He needs a greater force, but what could be so powerful? While this inner struggle is going on, he also has multiple run-ins with the leader of the Mad Burnish.

There is so much sexual tension in the air every time they meet that the side actors seem like they want to step away from each scene. Lio is mysterious, dangerous, powerful; an individual that is completely different from Kray. Kray quickly realizes that he is good at heart and asks him to use his flames for a better cause. As they clash again and again, they gradually come to an understanding, although Lio does more understanding and Kray does more of correcting him. By the climax, Lio has seen the error of his ways and tells Kray that he would provide the power for the engine as the most powerful Burnish alive, although he cannot hold back his tears at having to leave his brethren behind. 

Kray then pulls teary Lio into a passionate kiss, and a heart-shaped explosion shoots out from the engine room. The citizens not chosen to be aboard are never shown. The spaceship, powered conveniently by the random outside force, then barely manages to thrillingly warp through the portal into the infinite space as the Earth crumbles and finally explodes behind them in a cheesy effect.

* * *

In real life, Lio failed to suppress another groan as the last shot of the film showed Kray, fully covered in a spacesuit, stepping outside of the ship into what seemed like a vividly colored forest with an expression of wonder on his face. "Is this how people are taught in here? Because not only is the movie terrible but it's also completely wrong-"

Shikaa cut him short. "Nuh-uh. I said it would tell you how it's around here, not how it went, and there's a difference."

"I don't get the difference," Galo admitted. "You know it's wrong...like you still don't really believe us about Lio de Galon but that movie's still wrong even by your standards...and you showed it to us anyway? I don't get it."

"The history as recorded in the books and the history as in how the people prefer to perceive it, is what you mean, right?" said Lio, quietly.

"Yup. Kray Foresight spearheaded Parnassus. Lio Fotia powered it. About the only part that the thing got right, and this is even when I don't buy your shit about giant robots and Kray being a Burnish. Do you know how many smug motherfuckers come up to me to say that they know that Heris Ardebit was not actually kickass? One fact that you know that counters a silly action movie, and suddenly you can contribute your thoughts to someone who makes a living off this shit. Of course, still better than the Biar Conspiracy wackos. They just cannot be dissuaded that Biar Colossus was the one who planned and put the whole idea to the motion only for the truth to be hidden by them."

This was suddenly too much information to take in.

"Who's them?"

Shikaa shrugged. "Uh...like the usual, I guess. Foresight Foundation. Kray's Alpha Team. Misogyny. Usual stuff." 

"But I guess Kray must have liked this movie," tried Galo, attempting to steer the conversation back to course before he learned about any more conspiracy theories. 

"Actually, sources close to Kray Foresight a said that he hated _The Last Hope_. He tried to shut it down during the production but by that time he couldn't control everything in the industry. Bet he despised how it became an instant classic."

"Why did he hate it, though? It's kinda corny and not accurate at all but the action's good. And he gets to be a hero while I die." Even though he had enjoyed the action parts, found the cast hilarious and thought that the film was so bad that it was actually starting to border on good, he was bothered about how the film failed to make him an important character. Couldn't he appear as a formidable opponent, at least?

"That would be because he had an image to uphold. He was a married man."

Lio made a sound like a dying animal and Galo once again had to give him pats on the back.

"Such a family man, in fact, that he had four children. They all grew bitter and hated each other, except for the daughter who died, and had a bloody battle over his inheritance after he hit the dirt. Then the second son wrote a memoir about his life as a child of a rich, successful politician which was miserable because his father only ever loved his dead sister. But really, a family man? Conservative values? Don't know what kind of drugs he was on, because Foresight would have been about ten times more popular if he just screwed it and said that he was a wild guy who fucked around with tragic and pretty firebrands. Judging by the number of people who claimed to be the secret lovechild of Lio Fotia and Kray Foresight nobody believed him anyway."

Shikaa then had to interrupt her tirade against the Foresight family to explain to very confused Galo and Lio about how there _was_ actually a technological advancement that Omega Centauri could offer in confidence: Children between same-sex couples. The process leading up to it was harrowing, with both parties having to go through multiple tests and needing way too many kinds of biological samples, but it could be done. It also involved no pregnancy, which made it pretty much-in-demand for any kind of people who wished to have children but did not want to go through pregnancy and childbirth.

It was a technology that the Foresight Foundation had been developing for years to prepare for colonization; some of the Kray's Alpha team had warned that population number could become a problem and that pregnancy could compromise valuable workforce. Early colonists were not too receptive to the idea despite the conveniences it provided as they were understandably wary of giving over too much information about their bodies to scientists, but quickly changed their tune when an unknown disease never before observed on Earth ended up making nearly 1/16th of the population sick during the colony's first year. 

"But I thought Kray had a wife." Lio finally murmured, after Shikaa's explanation that there were at least five reported cases of people claiming to be a lost Fotia-Foresight heir, which the Foresight Foundation all officially denied. 

"Yes, but she's not interesting. She was a politician's daughter and a housewife. No bike, no leather, no cool powers, no enemies coming to an understanding. Not good for stories."

"I totally get it," Galo nodded.

Lio frowned. "I don't."

Shikaa sighed. "Don't you get it? You're one of the most interesting historical figures from what puny pathetic patch of history that we have! People will put whatever meat upon the bones they were given and reimagine you for their own liking!" She then ran over to a corner of the room, dragging bag a plastic box full of what looked like junk to Galo.

"This is you!" Shikaa screeched, holding up a tiny keychain from the box. It was a figure of...Lio. Except it was done in a round, cartoon-like style, with small limbs, a big head, and Lio's face stuck in a stupidly happy smile. "I had to buy ten of these before the museum officials stopped 'forgetting' about my designated parking space!"

"This is also because of you!" A dusty, yellowed magazine was thrust in front of their faces. The cover had 'Renaissance Flamepunk: How to Look Good in Both Lace & Leather' as its title article. 

"You've got a movement named after you!" This time it was a silver medal hanging from a frayed green string, with a simple but stylish engraving of a flame on it. "They think you are the nature-power, environment-friendly counterpart symbol to...whatever the fuck we are doing right now. They oppose any kind of mining activities and regularly go into the desert to feed the sandworms!"

"You are a recruitable character in my videogame!" Shikaa furiously tapped a button on a small device shaped like a calculator, which suddenly shot up a hologram of a white spaceship floating through the stars. The camera zoomed into the inside of the spaceship, which showed many characters of varying appearances walking mechanically around the facilities inside, with small letters floating next to each of them showing their name and level. There, sitting at a table next to a woman in a pink kimono, seemingly nodding off to sleep, was a holographic rendition of Lio.

Galo was impressed by how much the hologram Lio looked like its original source, and also rather proud of himself for finding minute details--the way that he pushed his hair behind his ear, the way he would sit taking up half of a sofa, the way that he would smile when he saw people he liked--that distinguished the hologram from the real Lio in front of him. 

"But why am I wearing a maid's outfit?" Lio was apparently too shaken by this time to make a reasonable point. 

"Hey!" Shikaa shouted defensively. "I had to earn lots of points to unlock that costume, you know!" 

Galo actually wanted to ask if he could have one of Lio keychains, but then thought better of it.

* * *

It was nearly midnight by the time they had gone through a quick summary of the Epimepolis's history, so Shikaa brought out blankets and cushions from her room to make a sleeping space on the floor of the kitchen for her guests. 

Galo didn't mind sleeping on the floor, although they didn't have much room to lie down even after moving the small table in the room to a corner. On the plus side, it meant having Lio right next to him, their bodies pressing close. On the minus side, it meant that he could feel Lio as he kept fidgeting instead of snuggling and going to sleep. It tickled.

"Can't sleep?" Galo knew when Lio couldn't go to sleep. It had happened a lot during their early days together when Lio was still not used to sleeping on a soft bed and not having to wake up every two hours. He had awoken at dawn enough times to see Lio sitting up on the bed that they shared, staring holes into the door to the bedroom like someone was going to storm in at any moment. It had taken many uneventful nights with Lio safely locked into an embrace before he gradually began to uncoil. 

Lio's body seemed to relax a little at Galo's words. "Yeah."

"Want me to move over?"

"No, it's not that. I'm still thankful for having blankets when I sleep." Lio laughed quietly. Galo didn't. It still wasn't something that he liked joking about. "It's just...I don't know what to do. Or what I should think."

"Didn't think that you'd ever be a superstar?" Instead of moving over as he said, Galo opted to playfully pull Lio closer; Lio was surprisingly compliant, resting his head against Galo's shoulder. 

"Kind of, yeah. But it's also this entire place. When we were coming into the city and didn't know any of this...I thought it'd be as simple as taking down Kray again. And I was confident that I could do it again. If it was with you." His words were uncertain whispers by the end, faltering. 

Galo took his hands and squeezed tightly. "But Kray's not here, huh."

"He's not here," Lio agreed. "And this is not a place under some dictatorship, either. The people are just living normally. Trying to be happy. Like people back on Earth." There was confusion and sadness in his voice; Galo did not remember Lio ever sounding so unsure of himself.

"But I can't help but think, who is going to answer for the Burnish, then? I know that there are no Burnish here, and Foresight Foundation hid true history from the people. But for the Parnassus to arrive here in the first place they needed all of our power. I don't know how Lio Fotia of Omega Centauri survived, but I don't think...others could have made it. It's just not fair, Galo. Who am I supposed to fight? Who will answer for the sacrifice of the innocents? I can fight when there are clear enemies and goals, but what can I do here?"

Galo wanted to tell him that he didn't need to fight. Lio was so used to his life being a struggle, a line of battles that never ended. He was too used to having to make loud noises to get himself heard in the first place, much less accomplish his goal. And he would jump into the fire for people who couldn't do it themselves because as someone who had the power and will it was his responsibility to carry it upon himself for others. 

It was ironically his noble nature and empathy for people that Galo found to be most difficult elements as he started introducing normal life to his boyfriend because Lio wanted--no, needed--to fight every battle that he deemed necessary, for anyone who required the help. Galo had found it incredibly frustrating to convince Lio that he did not, in fact, have to do everything by himself. He also found it impossibly endearing, but he was definitely not happy about Lio's complex acting up again.

Especially when it was about his parallel-universe self. It was very obvious as to who Lio would blame once he learned that Kray was dead, and he was too kind to fault the people of the colony. "What was _I_ doing? How could I let this happen?" 

"Lio." Galo interrupted. He remembered the nights he spent with Lio during the days when he couldn't sleep. He used to wrap his arms around Lio's small form and slept until morning, effectively keeping Lio from staying up all night and also letting him get used to a normal sleeping environment. Lio had complained about snoring, and his legs feeling paralyzed from not being able to move, but he never resisted. Galo's soul, not quite burning like usual but still adamant, was now telling him that he had to do it again. "Please don't blame yourself. Lio Fotia of Omega Centauri isn't you."

Lio didn't answer him, instead choosing to hide his face by embarrassedly smashing it to Galo's chest. Few seconds with only Lio's breath and warmth and heartbeat feeling real against his body and--

A quiet cough interrupted them. Shikaa was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, looking annoyed. "I could hear you guys chatting all the way from my room." 

Lio instantly sat up from his position in surprise, accidentally elbowing Galo in the face and making him yell. Before they could say anything amid the chaos, however, she held up a hand. "I did not catch any of it until that last part. Don't worry. But what I want to say is that you guys could just ask the man himself if you were curious about his motivations."

"Ask who?" Galo asked, holding his nose from the earlier contact with Lio's elbow. 

Shikaa stared at him as if the answer was glaringly obvious. "Lio Fotia here's still alive and kicking. I did say that the house in the desert belongs to him, didn't I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually play a Japanese gacha game that has characters based on historical and mythical figures! Once I told my friend that I wanted to see Lio in it, but not as a collab character.
> 
> She was understandably confused, so I had to explain that I wanted to see him as an actual historical figure, whose story would get bastardized for moefication reasons. And then he would be a five-star rare character with 1% draw rate and have cute interactions with people he's never seen before and be all tsun and dere. My friend, understandably, said that I have a very bad taste. So that's also partially why I began writing this fic. And definitely Kraylio, which unfortunately is still kind of creeping around in the background like a horror movie bogeyman thing instead of making an actual appearance.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: I love all these Bad End AUs! I will ride this big wave and write all the very sexy noncon erotic fantasy sex things.
> 
> Me two hours later: For some reason, I have completely failed myself.


End file.
